While finishing Camus' The Stranger, I thought about my culminating big question and the artistic insights this novel reveals.  Mersault undergoes this massive conversion that opens his eyes to such incredible truths.  Like one of Picasso's paintings, Mersault sees the world as a distant incomprehensible force.  It's Mersault's realization of death that uncovers the similarities between the world and himself, "I opened myself to the gentle indifference of the world.  Finding it so much like myself-so like a brother, really-I felt that I had been happy and that I was happy again"(Camus 121).  Mersault experiences this inconceivable excitement at the thought of dying.  What exactly prompts this revelation?  Something inside of Mersault ticks during his conversation with the Chaplain, and he sees the fatal corruption in certainties that aren't "worth one hair of a woman's head"(Camus 120).  Mersault sees the invalidity of man-made certainties through the words of the Chaplain.  Mersault finds the world as the one being with eternal certainties, and he comprehends the world's vision.  While Mersault may appear to be this indifferent creature, he has an internal complex beyond any person.  He unlocks the door to a life outside of his own, and taps into the vibrancy of what is to come.

I find Picasso's "Boy with a Pipe"an interesting portrayal of a character similar to Mersault.  His bland facial expression reveals an indifference to his surroundings, but his eyes leak emotion hidden somewhere deep within.  Although art serves many purposes, its primary objective is to unveil man's soul.  Whether an artist creates through a complex or simplistic design does not matter.  Although Mersault's existential approach to life may seem distantly detached, he unveils a truth to the real magitude of life and death.  Mersault paints his life with dark shades of charcoal, but ends his life with a splash of punching vibrancy.

Works Cited

"Boy with a Pipe by Pablo Picasso." Pablo Picasso Biography, Paintings, and Quotes. Web. 21 Jan. 2012. <http://www.pablopicasso.org/boy-with-pipe.jsp>.
Camus, Albert, and Matthew Ward. The Stranger. New York: Vintage International, 1989. Print.